“Goodly Lord, what a wit-snapper are you!” (Merchant of Venice, III.v.45)

Photo Break: Bald Eagle

OK, time for a little birdblogging. Get the story behind the photo below the break.

Bald eagle

This bald eagle photo, like the spoonbills, was taken on Sanibel Island, FL, though not at the Ding. This guy just situated himself right in front of the place where I was staying. I do know there’s at least one nesting pair behind the Dairy Queen (the only chain establishment on the island…is there irony there?); this may be one of those two. Or, dare I hope, one from any number of pairs on the island?

However many eagles there may be on Sanibel, they’d best watch their step, since (as with the island’s human inhabitants) real estate is at a premium. This particular eagle, just before this shot was taken, had just finished fighting off a dive-bombing osprey who (if I know which one it was) didn’t appreciate finding another predator near his own nest.